By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
A pair of athletes who played in the NFL, a Major League Baseball alum and a United States Olympian are part of the fourth installment of men's picks in TopSports.news' Shawnee County All-Time Top 100 project.
TSN's latest group of 10 Top 100 honorees is headed by former Topeka High star Lamar Mady, who played for the Raiders before putting together a long and continuing career in professional indoor football, while Washburn Rural and Kansas State alum Will Cokeley also got a taste of the NFL with the Buffalo Bills while also playing in the United States Football League and Canadian Football League.
Picks No. 61 through 70 is top heavy with Topeka High products, including U.S. volleyball Olympian Chuck Nelson, Major League pitcher Ken "Hook'' Johnson, Trojan football stars Levi Lee and Troy Slusser and local softball legends Milo Mitchell and Joe Douglas.
Seaman grad and Washburn University baseball star J.P. Wright, a former NAIA Player of the Year, earned a spot in the Top 100 along with Washburn Rural product Luke Yarnell, who played Arena Football League for 10 seasons after starring at Coffeyville Community College and Southwestern Louisiana.
TSN SHAWNEE COUNTY ALL-TIME TOP 100 MEN’S ATHLETES
Former Topeka High standout Lamar Mady played in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders and is a veteran lineman with the Arizona Rattlers of the IFL. [Silver & Black Pride]
61. LAMAR MADY, Topeka High
Mady played in seven games for the Oakland Raiders in 2013 and was on their practice squad from 2013-2017. He started his collegiate career at Butler County Community College, where he was first-team All-Jayhawk Conference and first-team All-Region VI, and transferred to Youngstown State, where he played in 22 games without allowing a sack or pressure. Mady has played center for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League (arena football) eight seasons, earning first-team All-IFL Honors from 2017-2019 and second-team All-IFL Honors from 2021-2023. Mady earned first-team All-Centennial League honors at Topeka High and played in the Kansas Shrine Bowl.
Washburn Rural and K-State product Will Cokeley played in the NFL, CFL and USFL during his pro career. [Topeka Capital-Journal]
62. WILL COKELEY, Washburn Rural
After a standout football career at Washburn Rural (1978 graduate), the linebacker earned All-America honors at Coffeyville Community College and posted more than 100 tackles two straight season for Kansas State, helping the Wildcats reach the Independence Bowl. Cokeley won a USFL title with the Michigan Panthers and later played with the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League and with the Buffalo Bills during the 1987 NFL player strike. He had one career NFL interception.
Levi Lee, a Topeka High graduate, is a legendary figure in local football history. [Submitted photo]
63. LEVI LEE, Topeka High
Lee was a three-year starter for High in football and was All-State in 1963. Considered one of the most dazzling performers in the history of Shawnee County, Lee also ran track, helping Troy capture the 1963 state title. He was recruited heavily by many top-flight football programs before picking Kansas. Freshmen were ineligible at that time, then Lee quit school during two-a-days his sophomore year. He served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and worked 32-plus years at the Topeka Juvenile Correctional Facility.
A Seaman graduate, J.P. Wright was named the NAIA Player of the Year before playing two seasons in the minor leagues. [Topeka Capital-Journal]
64. J.P. WRIGHT, Seaman
Wright was named the NAIA Player of the Year after finishing his three-year college baseball career (1986-88) at Washburn University with a batting average of .450. Wright hit .421 with 16 homers as a sophomore, .444 with 26 homers as a junior and .483 with 22 homers as a senior. The outfielder earned NAIA All-District 10 honors his first two seasons. He was drafted in the 25th round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Minnesota Twins in 1988 and played two seasons in the minors. Wright is a member of the Washburn Hall of Fame.
Topeka High and Washburn University product Chuck Nelson played volleyball in the 1964 Olympics for the U.S. [Submitted photo]
65. CHUCK NELSON, Topeka High
The Topeka High and Washburn University product played for the U.S. in the first Olympic volleyball event in 1964 and played tennis at the national and world level into his ’80s. Prior to his Olympic appearance, Nelson played football, basketball, baseball, tennis and was a pole vaulter. Nelson, who won a Pan American Games gold medal, was inducted into the Washburn University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1973 and is also a member of the USA Volleyball Hall of Fame. Nelson served in the Air Force as a fighter pilot.
Topeka High graduate Troy Slusser set multiple pass receiving records for Washburn University. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
66. TROY SLUSSER, Topeka High
A Topeka High product, Slusser was an NAIA first-team football All-American in 1988 and owned Washburn records for points, receiving yards and touchdown receptions at the end of his career. He was inducted into the Washburn Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998. As a senior for WU, Slusser had 1,512 receiving yards to establish a school single-season record. He also caught 68 passes that year, the second most in school history. Slusser racked up 2,428 receiving yards in his career and scored 20 touchdowns and 128 points in a season.
Washburn Rural product Luke Yarnell was a junior college All-American, played Division I football and 10 seasons of arena football. [Coffeyville Community College]
67. LUKE YARNELL, Washburn Rural
A three-year starter in football for Washburn Rural, Yarnell was part of Rural's 1989 Class 5A state championship team. He was named All-State, All-City, and All-Centennial Leagus as a junior and senior and played in the Kansas Shrine Bowl. Yarnell also competed in basketball, baseball and track, earning three state medals in the shot put. Yarnell earned first-team All-Jayhawk Conference recognition at Coffeyville and went on to play at Southwestern Louisiana, where he started 22 straight games at center and was named first-team All-Big West. Yarnell played pro for 10 seasons in the Arena Football League, helping Grand Rapids win the 2001 ArenaBowl XV championship.
Ken "Hook'' Johnson, a Topeka High graduate, pitched in the Major Leagues for the Cardinals, Phillies and Tigers. [Topps]
68. KEN “HOOK” JOHNSON, Topeka High
Johnson pitched six seasons in the Major Leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Detroit Tigers, finishing his career with a 4.58 earned run average. Johnson went 4-1 in 1950 with a 3.88 earned run average and also pitched 10 minor league seasons. Johnson is a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.
69. MILO MITCHELL, Topeka High
Mitchell is a Kansas Amateur Softball Association Hall of Famer, who was a star right fielder for the two-time state-champion Ed Marling’s Hornets and other Topeka teams in the 1950s and '60s.
Topeka High graduate Joe Douglas is a member of the Kansas Amateur Softball Association Hall of Fame. [Topeka Capital-Journal]
70. JOE DOUGLAS, Topeka High
Douglas, who was sometimes referred to as the “Babe Ruth of Topeka softball,” is a Kansas Amateur Softball Association Hall of Famer who was a star outfielder for the Ed Marling’s Hornets in the 1950s and '60s.
71. CLARDY VINSON, Topeka High
72. C.B. MCGRATH, Topeka West
73. TOMMY HUNTER, Hayden
74. JOHN GRANTHAM, Topeka High
75. BENNIE SIMECKA, Rossville
76. THERON WILSON, Highland Park
77. DAVID PROCTOR, Topeka High
78. RICK DEHART, Seaman
79. SHANNON KRUGER, Silver Lake
80. TUCKER HORAK, Rossville
81. ANDREW BECKLER, Washburn Rural
82. TAGEN LAMBOTTE, Rossville
83. BISHOP MURRAY, Washburn Rural
84. MICHAEL HOFFER, Shawnee Heights
85. RAPHEAL POSEY, Highland Park
86. ZEKE METZ, Seaman
87. LAMONT AUSTIN, Highland Park
88. CHRIS CARLSON, Seaman
89. SHANE WRIGHT, Hayden
90. DUANE ZLATNIK, Rossville
91. AUSTIN HALSEY, Washburn Rural
92. JACOB MORGAN, Washburn Rural
93. LARRY MILLER, Topeka High
94. TANNER NEWKIRK, Hayden
95. TRE RICHARDSON, Highland Park
96. DESMOND PURNELL, Hayden
97. JORDAN COOPER, Shawnee Heights
98. ROB HAYS, Topeka West
99. BEN CARLSON, Seaman
100. JACK L. BYBEE, Washburn Rural
UPCOMING TOP 100 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
July 17 -- Women's No. 51 through 60.
July 18 -- Men's No. 51 through 60.
July 19 -- Women's No. 41 through 50.
July 20 -- Men's No. 41 through 50.
July 21 -- Women's No. 31 through 40.
July 22 -- Men's No. 31 through 40.
July 23 -- Women's No. 21 through 30.
July 24 -- Men's No. 21 through 30.
July 25 -- Women's No. 11 through 20.
July 26 -- Men's No. 11 through 20.
July 27 -- Women's No.10 through 1.
July 28 -- Men's No. 10 through 1.
